oh brother
by tvkeshi
Summary: Kyouya felt like a child, weak and vulnerable. But then, it didn't matter. Dino was pack. Brothers!D18
1. kyouya

_"After I graduate, I have to go away, Kyoya._

 _"And I can't take you with me."_

 _"Why not?"_

 _"Because, this is your territory."_

 _"It's that baby's fault."_

 _"It's not really a matter of fault, but I suppose you could say it's my father 's to blame."_

 _"You're going back to Italy."_

 _"Yeah. I am."_

 **….**

Kyouya stood behind the gates of his school watching the crowd with a critical eye, daring any of them to misbehave – and they didn't. His students were good students.

Most of them, at least.

He hated crowding but herbivores found safety in numbers and while he didn't get it, he found it permissible to a degree.

Most of his students didn't crowd loudly.

Most of his students didn't disappear for a week and come back wounded – it was that baby's fault his students were harmed.

Sawada had never been one for trouble until recently.

The problem started with the carnivorous baby and grew with the gaijin's transfer.

He hadn't known much more that what was in his file – he was a certifiable genius – and he knew, he _knew_ it had been thoroughly redacted before it reached his hands.

He knew because just transfer students don't swear their lives to Sawada Tsunayoshis and just transfer students don't fling around dynamite and smoke like it was going out of style.

It reminded him of –

He shook his head.

The last of his students were trickling through the gates with Sawada's group rounding them out.

Yamamoto smiled at him when they passed him by. It seemed that after the Sakura Incident that he considered them friends? Acquaintances? At least he thought they were on amicable terms – which was not entirely false. He thought he was on amicable terms with all students providing they follow the rules and regulations and acted as befitting of students of his school.

He had known of Yamamoto because _he_ knew his father – for whatever the reason – and had dragged Kyouya along when _he_ ordered sushi. He inevitably met Yamamoto as it was, in fact, his father's restaurant.

He liked Tsuyoshi even if the man wasn't a proper carnivore he had tasted blood.

He liked Tsuyoshi even if he took the long way home to avoid his shop.

Yamamoto, on the other hand, infuriated him. He was always smiling and laughing even without reason. He would laugh and smile even when he came home covered in wounds. He'd say it was just training, that it was no big deal even when Kyouya knew the baby was abusing his trust in him. He would say he shouldn't worry because he could handle it – he _knew_ he could Kyouya had seen him fight but he had also seen him fight _alone._ He had always been stronger with something to fight for.

Even the few stragglers had made their way into his school.

Kyouya stalked into his school stepping to the sound of the anthem.

Through the doors.

His school was a good school.

His school in his city.

It was his city like it was his mother's before him and her mother's before her.

His city was handed over to his mother when she was 16.

He was 16 and his mother was still present.

She said she wanted to give him a choice.

If he hadn't found another city but the time he was 20, she would leave.

But, it was still his city even if it wasn't entirely his, yet.

He had all but taken over his mother's duties and he failed to understand why she wouldn't just hand over the reins.

She never bothered explaining.

Did she honestly believe he would follow –

No. He would stay by his school in his Namimori.

 **….**

He refused the ring.

He didn't want to play family with a bunch of herbivores. Herbivores can't sustain a pack. Herbivores will tuck in their tails and run when given the opportunity. Herbivores will run and not return for years and years and may never return. Herbivores –

No. He wanted nothing to do with them.

A traitorous part of him whispers that they are family, that they are _pack._ That part of him wants more than anything to join them, to be whole again.

He had thought _he_ was pack. They fed together and they bled together. Family leaves. Like his mother would like his grandmother did. But pack, pack is strengthened through blood given and taken.

He _knew_ Sawada's little group was a pack and he knew Sawada would accept him if he wanted to join.

But he refused.

The baby – _that took him away_ – had taken it in stride, but Kyouya knew he would be back and he knew he wouldn't be able to refuse.

The next day, the ring met him on the roof.

The ring was not alone.

He could feel the baby watching and he just _knew_ that this was the plan from the start.

The ring's bearer opened _his_ mouth and Kyouya _lunged._

How many years had it been?

He knew the answer without thinking.

Four years.

Four years ago that baby whisked him off to Italy never to return.

 _But he promised he would return._

Even as he swung his tonfa, he could feel the weight of the button in his pocket.

 _"I know this is supposed to be for a girl," he had said. "But I want you to have it."_

 _"…why?" he had questioned but accepted the button pressed into his hand._

 _"It's a promise, fratellino." His tone had been light but his face was dark._

 _"…"_

 _"A promise that we'll meet again."_

 **….**

He had been nine when _he_ came to stay with him and his mother – his father had been killed two years prior.

That was the year Kyouya learned just how many possible threats lurked inside his mother's city.

Kyouya had been irate and _he_ had been the one to calm him down enough to explain, in broken Japanese, that Namimori was neutral ground and that people much scarier that his mother would take them if they acted out.

 _He_ had always been good at calming Kyouya down – his mother just let him beat out his anger on the nearest target but _never_ on furniture or those too weak to fight back.

It was also explained that _he_ was sent to Namimori in order for _him_ to train and finish school away from the skirmishes _his_ family was involved in and their house was chosen because apparently his father had owed _his_ family a favor and his mother had taken it in stride. Even though he was married into the family, his father was still a Hibari and Hibari's bared debts with honor.

It was about a two later that Kyouya first saw the baby – saw because his mother refused to let him into the house. By then _his_ Japanese was fluent and Kyouya's Italian was passible.

The baby was supposed to be training _him._

He didn't like it.

He followed them once, listened to the baby teach _his brother_ about mafia politics and watched him beat _his brother_ when he made even simple mistakes.

Kyouya knew it was wrong and he knew there was nothing he could do.

For as long as he could remember, his mother taught him that hurting the weak wouldn't make them stronger. While _he_ was still weak – his mother spent evenings training _him_ alongside Kyouya – _he_ was trying and _he_ was improving.

The baby was abusing his power.

And Kyouya wanted blood.

They met eyes once. A whisper _you will never defeat me._

Kyouya vowed to grow stronger to protect his city and _his brother_.

Someday, he would defeat the baby.

But until then, he would wait with clinched teeth and white knuckles.

The day _he_ returned home triumphant with clothes bloody and torn – carrying a whip of all things – he explained it to Kyouya, that _he_ was important back in Italy and one day _he_ would have to return. The words mafia and Familglia were never mentioned and that frustrated him.

For once, his mother stopped him from going out to work out his frustrations. She told him that _he_ was protecting him.

 _You're pack_ she said. _Pack protect their own_.

He gripped his tonfa – his first set, bamboo – and bared his teeth at his mother.

He was not weak.

She just smiled at him.

 _To Dino, you are his fratellino, his outoto. His world is made of scarier and more powerful people than the thugs of our city. He wishes to keep you from them. But, he will tell you when he thinks you're ready and not a moment before._

Kyouya was offended by the insinuation that he needed to be coddled but he could not argue with his mother, especially when she smiled like that.

When his mother found out that the baby wasn't actually training _him_ to use _his_ knew weapon, she had gone out for several hours.

The next morning found Tetsuya's father and a small woman – whose name he never learned – demonstrating proper arm and wrist movements and making him repeat them over and over.

Kyouya watched. Tetsuya's father had no training with whips and neither did the woman. After asking his mother, he learned that she was a silk dancer. He didn't understand, but _his_ movements grew steadily more accurate.

In the year before _his_ departure, there were great changes in their household. _He_ spoke mainly in Italian and _he_ spent less and less time home – if _he_ wasn't at school or training, _he_ was with the baby.

A week before the graduation ceremony, Kyouya woke to a gun in his face.

 _I have no qualms against pulling this trigger._ The face he wore should have never been seen on a baby.

Kyouya said nothing.

 _Dino has obligations in Italy that cannot be ignored._

 _If you ask it of him, he will stay._ The gun was pressed against his forehead, the baby's finger hovering over the trigger.

 _You will let him leave. He does not belong here._

Kyouya practically growled.

 _Namimori is his home._

 _And Italy is his birthright._ He countered.

Kyouya's eyes widened marginally. Birthright. They weren't blood related. He had no right to keep _him_.

 _I see you understand._ The baby's gun transformed into a lizard.

 _Wao_ … He couldn't help but wonder.

The baby looked at him for a moment, scrutinizing.

Kyouya didn't want to just bite him to death, he wanted to _maul_ him.

The baby left.

He never told his mother.

They fought. With the button safely in his pocket, Kyouya deflected the whip only diving in for calculated risks.

 _He_ still left.

Kyouya's tonfa was cracked.

 **…**

In the years coming, Kyouya wishes _he_ had stayed. Tetsuya was his second but _he_ was his –

Most days those thoughts are easily abated with whispers.

 _Birthright._

 _Birthright._

 _Birthright._

Other days he feels as though his heart was ripped from his chest.

He deals with both of these feelings in a typical Hibari fashion.

 _He_ still had the stupid whip.

Kyouya hated it.

He hated _him._

 _Him_ and _his_ stupid parka and _his_ stupid weapon and _his_ blond hair and _his_ and the devastated look on _his_ face.

Kyouya hated _him._

"Kyouya!" he cried.

Kyouya could feel the baby watching.

He hated him to.

Him and his fedora and his magic lizard.

He hated him for –

 _He_ had grown stronger.

Someone was screaming.

His moves grew erratic and maybe he was being reckless.

But he was angry and hurt and _betrayed._

All it took was a misstep and his tonfa were torn away and the stupid whip was wrapped around his arms.

Kyouya hated the whip, hated what it represented. Hated how it made the herbivorous man a master.

A master of _himself_.

A master of _his_ people.

A master of him.

It was all _his fault._

 _He_ stood before him with a frown.

Kyouya tasted salt.

He expected a blow.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come home sooner, fratellino."

Arms were wrapped around him.

He should have known. _He_ had always been an herbivore. Gentle and weak.

 _He_ was warm and _his_ stupid parka was soft.

Kyouya felt like a child, weak and vulnerable.

But then, it didn't matter.

Dino was pack.


	2. dino

The first time Dino saw Kyouya, he wanted nothing more than protect him.

He realized that this was not the usual reaction one has when faced with a child surrounded by fallen men.

But Dino spent his formidable years with Squalo.

Kyouya could fight – and would only get better with age – but there was so much he didn't understand.

He was prickly like a cat and Dino grew attached faster than he intended to – he had planned on keeping his distance, he was there to learn not to play house.

Play house.

With a family not a Famiglia.

Away from his –

No.

Kyouya called it pack.

Reborn called it weakness.

Called him _weak._

 _Weak._

Reborn called it weakness and exploited it.

 _Don't be arrogant, Clumsy-Dino._ He said. _With how you are now, you can't dream to protect that hellion._

In a rare moment of courage Dino snapped. _Don't you_ dare _bring Kyouya into this!_

Reborn cocked his gun. _And why not? You were sent here to train free from distractions, but you got attached, Cavallone._ You _brought him into this. His death will be on your hands._

Dino didn't respond and Reborn never outright repeated the words.

But he needed to be strong for the Family, for his _family._

If he thought of Kyouya, than no one needed to know.

 **….**

Dino wouldn't lie and say he understood Kyouya from the beginning, but he would say that he had been willing to try.

The students of Namimori schools feared him and the adults in the town regarded him as a convenient nuisance, as the lesser of two evils.

On one hand, he was a violent delinquent and, on the other hand, he still a violent delinquent but he funneled his aggression towards the wrongdoers of the city. Amongst a certain age, fond memories of the spitfire that was Kyouya's mother kept them from accepting that he was replacing her.

Well, he was a violent delinquent that later commanded a group of violent delinquents. Dino says group but means gang. A gang of moderately upstanding violent delinquents that protected the city from violent delinquents that were not them.

Namimori gave him a headache – he loved it.

But Kyouya.

As a child, Kyouya did, in fact, bare extreme amounts of violence in his small body.

Violence and rage.

It took Dino a while – and hours training with Kyouya's mother – to wrap his head around the fact that violence and rage did not have to go hand in hand.

It was then, that he set out to help the small angry boy.

Kyouya was angry so, Dino did things that made him calm if not happy.

They would sit on the deck in silence and drink tea – sometimes Dino wondered if Kyouya was an old man in a child's body but then he would quickly be proven incorrect.

It wasn't hard to discover that Kyouya preferred peace and quiet.

But it took a while to truly understand why he was so angry.

Kyouya was completely alone. The Kusakabe boy was a minion not a friend and while his mother possibly cared for him – Dino thought she was just like his old man not matter how different they seemed – neither of them ever actually talked to him.

Or, you know, actually pay attention to his needs.

Dino's response was to firmly insert himself into Kyouya's life.

There were things about Kyouya that no one seemed to realize that some of the things he said ran much, much deeper than just the whim of a child.

The big one was that Kyouya had rules, codes of conduct for him and those around him. Rules for how the city, rules for his class, for his mother, for Dino himself. It was Kyouya's way of understanding the world.

People had to act a certain way or he got confused and frustrated that they were acting _wrong,_ improper. And since Kyouya was raised by his mother, when he was confused and frustrated, he lashed out violently, always.

He classmates must follow the rules and regulations of the institution. With his mother, the Kusakabes, and Dino himself, Kyouya was more lenient and usually only freaked out when they did something – at least what he perceived as – out of character.

This was cemented in Dino's mind the first time he returned from training with Reborn. Something about Dino being bruised and bloody – even if it had only been a few scrapes. He was exhausted and forced to fend off an irate ten year old Kyouya before he could collapse onto his futon.

That was also the time that Kyouya had ever used his new classification system on him.

Herbivore.

Kyouya thought he was an herbivore – weak, kind, gentle – and couldn't wrap his mind around seeing him obviously fresh from a fight even if it was just training.

He knew Dino was training under mornings with his mother, but Dino knew that what he was taught was mostly for self-defense and basic body strengthening exercises.

Herbivore.

Herbivores didn't need to fight, that what carnivores were for.

Dino would never point out the obvious flaw in the sentiment.

Kyouya referred to himself and his mother as carnivores.

Carnivores fought to protect those weaker – herbivores.

Kyouya wanted to protect him and that made Dino want to wrap him up and hide him as far from the underworld as possible.

With that revelation, Dino made it his mission to keep Reborn as far away from him as possible.

Dino knew he wasn't successful when Kyouya started sitting further apart from him and looking at him from the corner of his eye when he thought Dino wasn't looking.

Dino knew for certain Reborn had said something to him.

Kouya's mother never mentioned Reborn entering the house.

Which meant that Kyouya hadn't told her – Kyouya didn't talk much but there were few things he didnt actually tell his mother.

Which meant that whatever Reborn said, Kyouya saw as reasonable .

Because he knew how Kyouya felt about the hitman and would normally feel no such obligation as to cover for him – especially since he broke one of the rules.

With how Kyouya was in the week up towards Dino's gradation plus his general dislike for what he considered frivolities, Dino feared that Kyouya wouldn't accept his button.

Dino had gotten the idea when he heard a group of girls giggling about how nice it would be if they were given a button. In the vaguest sense, a boy would give his top button to someone he cared about – it was generally implied that it was for a girl.

Dino had found the idea perfect.

The day, Dino followed his classmates out of the auditorium and found Kyouya scowling by the gates.

He didn't even have to press and Kyouya accepted the button.

Accepted it and then proceeded to attempt to beat the living hell out of him.

When they were done, he watched Kyouya walk the opposite way from the Hibari house.

Dino didn't know what he expected.

And he didn't see him again for a little over four years.

 **….**

When Vongola's current don asked Dino to bring the rings to Namimori, he had jumped on the opportunity.

He had been to Namimori several months prior to meet Tsuna . Tsuna who was wonderful but absolutely nothing like Kyouya – which was probably a good thing and why was he looking for similarities anyway?

Part of the reason that he had decided to go was to see Kyouya but Reborn was there.

Reborn was there and Kyouya made him weak.

Reborn was there and even though he was no longer his tutor, Dino couldn't disobey.

Dino was sitting at the kitchen table with Tsuna when Reborn jumped onto the table and met Dino's eyes with an outstretched hand.

"Reborn…"

He had expected it, it was Reborn and Reborn spared no cruelty even to his students.

On one hand he had prayed he could keep Kyouya from their world and on the other he hoped desperately that Tsuna would accept him into his family – his inner Kyouya called them a pack.

"That hellion is a powerful Cloud."

Dino stood abruptly his chair skidding on the tile.

"I told you not to call him that!"

Tsuna looked startled on the other side of the table and was shooting looks between them.

"His loyalty would be a great asset to Vongola." Reborn continued ignoring Dino's outburst.

"He's not a weapon to be bought," Dino practically growled.

Reborn looked at him in a way that promised pain.

Dino never disobeyed Reborn as a rule but when Kyouya was brought into the equation all bets were off.

"A don can't afford a weakness of this strength."

Tsuna's eyes widened and Dino saw red.

He slammed a hand onto the table directly in front of Reborn – who didn't even flinch.

Reborn met him with a cool stare.

"Kyouya is not a weakness. You trained me to protect my family, Reborn. Kyouya has _always_ been my family."

Instead of attacking like Dino expected, the hitman set the ring down in front of him and smiled?

"Even family has to know when to let go."

Several minutes after Reborn exited and Dino slumped in his chair staring at the ring, Tsuna spoke up.

"How do you know Hibari-san?" he asked tentatively.

"Ah –" Dino sat back in his chair – "His my fratellino."

Tsuna tilted his head.

"My little brother," he explained.

"When I was in junior high, I was sent to Namimori to train. I lived with the Hibaris until I graduated secondary. I take it you've met him?" Dino asked knowing the answer.

Tsuna hummed an affirmative and looked like he wanted to say something else.

Dino laughed, "He's always been like that. Well, no. He used to be a ball of rage."

"He's not angry now?"

He looked at the ring pensively.

"…I suppose he might be."

Tsuna looked confused but just watched as Dino slipped the ring into his pocket and left, the front door closing gently behind him.

Reborn knew he would.

Hell, Dino knew he would.

He had worked so hard to keep Kyouya from the mafia.

But he abandoned him and they had been pack.

Dino doubted Kyouya had changed any in their years apart.

So, he knew that Kyouya had no one he considered pack and Kyouya needed pack, he had always needed pack.

Kyouya had never called him pack but Dino knew that's how he viewed their relationship.

Dino broke the biggest rule of pack and he knew Tsuna would accept him even if he feared him.

When he went up onto the roof, Dino expected anything but what actually happened to occur.

He was prepared to fight – he had brought his whip after all – but he wasn't expecting Kyouya to come at him screaming at the top of his lungs.

He was startled.

He also hadn't expected to win so easily.

When Dino stood before him, Kyouya was crying his face set in stone.

It was his eyes that betrayed him.

That led to Dino stepping closer.

The betrayal and hopelessness in his brother's eyes.

Dino wrapped his arms around him dropping his whip and pulling him against his chest like he had done so few times before. Kyouya went rigid but didn't try to move away.

They stood there on the roof in the middle of the day.

He could feel Reborn watching.

He didn't care.

Fuck Reborn.

Wait –

Dino would practically feel Kyouya's inner conflict as his arms slowly rose to return the embrace.

It was an awkward hug.

But that was alright.

They weren't alright.

But maybe they would be.


End file.
